Tricks and threats
by Misura
Summary: Joey really should know better than to play Truth or Dare on the eve of Halloween ... [SetoJoey]
1. Beginning

Tricks and threats

Warnings/notes : Seto/Joey, small hints at Bakura/Ryou and Yami/Yugi, weirdness, slight fluff, bits of Mokuba, Halloween-fic.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

written at 9th october 2003, by Misura

A/N : I may have gotten the rules for Truth or Dare wrong. Sorry if that's the case.

Thanks to  DarkShadowFlame for pointing out the inconsistency in the first version of this chapter!

**********

Truth or Dare, Joey sourly considered, was not a good game to play when you had a secret crush and your sister was determined to make you admit that in public. 

So far he'd managed to escape having to pick Truth when it was Shizuka's turn, but he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to do that. His only hope was that the others would get bored with the game and quit. 

Yami especially seemed to be unable to see the fun in playing a game where there was no real winner. Bakura only enjoyed the game because it gave him an opportunity to put embarrassing questions to Ryou. Everyone present was grateful the ex-tombrobber had the decency to whisper them in his hikari's ear rather than say them out loud ; Ryou's hot blushes were indication enough about the nature of the Truths Bakura inquired about.

Yugi was too shy to ask anything more daring than his favorite kind of pizza or things along those lines. Anzu was nosy, almost as bad as his sister, but her Dares were pretty easy ('Don't mention Kaiba's name for half an hour', 'Don't talk about food for five minutes' and 'Sit quiet for three minutes') and she seemed clueless about his secret.

"Shall we go do something else after this last round?" Ryou proposed. Bakura grinned, stretching like a cat and making a remark through their mindlink that earned him another blush.

"We have some other things to do tonight." Bakura explained with a wink to Yami, who felt obliged to put one arm around Yugi and sent a glare in Bakura's direction.

Yugi squirmed uneasily. "Sounds all right to me, Ryou. Who's going to get the last turn?"

"Why don't you take it, Yugi?" Anzu smiled at him, prompting Yami to tighten his possessive embrace. "I'm sure no one would mind."

Ryou, Joey and Yami nodded, while Bakura looked bored and Shizuka pouted.

"All right then ... " Yugi licked his lips. "Joey, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." Joey replied immediately, with a relieved grin. Yugi would ask something easy and he'd be able to keep his crush a secret another day.

"Joey ... " Purple eyes sought his. "Are you in love with Kaiba-kun?"

"No!" Joey answered, wondering why Yugi would suspect such a thing. Shizuka grinned at him and shook her head.

"That's not true, brother." she chided. "I've read his name in your note-books hundreds of times."

Joey felt his jaw drop. "You ... are ... reading *my* note-books? What on earth for? Haven't you ever heard of the word 'privacy'?!?"

"That's not important right now, Joey." Yami interrupted him.

"You lied, while you promised a Truth." Bakura crowed. "Now I get to tie you up and do anything to you I like! Muhahaha!" Ryou smacked him. "Ouch!"

"But ... " Joey protested.

"We will decide on a proper penalty for you. Together." Anzu glared at Bakura who was too busy muttering how much his head hurt to Ryou to notice.

"Fine, fine." Joey sighed, burying his head in his hands and wondering how he always ended up in this kind of messes and how he was going to get out of this one. Shizuka patted him on his back reasuringly.

"Don't worry, big brother, I'll make sure it won't be anything too bad."

Joey moaned softly. "Now why doesn't that make me feel any better?"

*****

[meanwhile, elsewhere]

"But big brother! I want to have some fun!" Mokuba made his eyes go wobbly, to signify there would be worse to come if Seto didn't gave in right away.

"You have a room full of toys, the most advanced computer-games in existence and an unlimited credit-card to buy anything else you could possibly want." Seto summed up. "I fail to see why you would want to dress up in some riduclous costume to go begging people for candy. Like you don't have a stash of the junk for your own."

"Maybe if you'd eat some yourself too sometimes, you wouldn't be so stuffy." Mokuba scoffed, dropping his cute act for a moment.

"Excuse me?" Seto raised one eybrow.

"You're the best big brother in the whole wide world." Mokuba amended quickly. "I love you more than anything in the world. Now, can I please go play Trick or Treat on Halloween? Please?" 

Seto sighed, ruffling his brother's dark hair. "I'm just worried something happens to you, Mokuba, that's all. If you want to go that badly, it's okay, of course, but ..."

"Yay!" Mokuba beamed. "Thanks, Seto!" 

Seto smiled down on the smaller boy hugging him. "You don't have to lie to me to get what you want though."

"I wasn't lying!" Mokuba replied indignantly. "You really are the best big brother I could've wished for. Really. I wouldn't want to miss you for the world."

"Thank you, little brother." There was a sparkle of warmth few people ever got to see in Seto's eyes. "Now, I want you to promise me to - "

"Be careful, not talk to strangers, not eat any candy I got from strangers and stay out of dark alleys. I know, I know. You worry too much." Mokuba grinned. "It's going to be fun. Just you wait and see, Seto. We can share all the candy I get and play boardgames the rest of the night, just like in the old days."

"Yes ... that sounds ... nice." Seto agreed quietly.

~tbc~


	2. Middle

Tricks and threats

Warnings/notes : Seto/Joey, small hints at Bakura/Ryou and Yami/Yugi, weirdness, slight fluff, bits of Mokuba, Halloween-fic.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

written at 14th october 2003, by Misura

Thanks to DarkShadowFlame for catching me at yet another mistake!

**********

As soon as he saw the grin on Shizuka's face, Joey knew he was in deep, deep trouble. He wondered how bad it could be. Surely Yugi or Anzu would have spoken up for him, to keep him at least a little safe from his sister's crazy ideas?

"We have decided on your fate, puny mortal." Bakura announced dramatically.

Yami glared at him. "We have decided on something that's fair."

"That was what I said." Bakura protested, glaring right back.

"We picked something quite easy for you to do, brother." Shizuka beamed at him, before bursting into giggles together with Anzu.

"It's not too bad, really, Joey." Yugi smiled reassuringly at him.

"Oh, I'm *so* glad to hear that." Joey grumbled. "Come on, you guys, stop torturing me and tell me what horrible thing you came up with for me to do."

"Like my aibou said, it's nothing 'horrible' at all." Yami began. 

Yugi nodded. "You just have to get Kaiba to give you some candy by trick-or-treating him."

"I ... what?" Joey questioned, praying he had misheard somehow.

"You heard him perfectly." Shizuka scoffed. "Now don't be such a coward, Joey. See it as an opportunity to get to know him better."

"An opportunity to make sure he'll hate me forever is more like it." Joey muttered.

"Did you say something, mutt?" Bakura asked sweetly.

"No, nothing." Joey sighed, wondering if he might be as lucky as to have Mokuba open the door, rather than his big brother.

"Would you like me to call Otogi and ask him if you can borrow that dog-costume?" Shizuka offered generously. "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to - "

"No, thanks. I prefer to go as I am." Joey interrupted her, thinking he'd actually prefer not to go at all. Still, if he *had* to, he'd much rather not look like an idiot.

"We'll all keep our fingers crossed for you, Joey." Anzu assured him.

*****

"He *is* going to be all right, isn't he?" Yugi sounded a little worried.

"Of course, Yugi. Kaiba's not that bad." Yami smiled, pulling Yugi a little closer. "Don't worry about him so much ; he'll be just fine. You'll see."

"This coming from the man who takes great pleasure in reminding Kaiba of the fact that he beat him over three times in his favorite game now and doesn't pass a single opportunity to Duel with him or just insult him." Bakura snorted.

"Come on, yami, what's the worst he could do?" Ryou cheerfully inquired.

Bakura smirked at him. "Sorry, hikari, but I think that's not exactly something you or any of the ladies present would like to hear."

Shizuka shivered. "Please stop talking like that ; it's just Kaiba."

Five pairs of eyes stared at her in surprise.

"*Just* Kaiba? Are we talking about the same person here? Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp, cold, emotionless bastard first class, sadistic, arrogant - " Yami summed up.

"- and sexy as hell." Bakura finished, ignoring Ryou's indignant expression. "Your brother may not have much brains, but he does have taste."

"Bakura!" Ryou hissed angrily.

"What? I'm paying your friend a compliment here! Though he might have picked someone a bit nicer to fall in love with ... " Bakura shrugged.

"Well - " Yugi started, to be interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"Anyone willing to bet that's Joey?" Anzu sighed. "With some lousy excuse of how he couldn't possibly go to Kaiba's place and a plea to give him some other dare?"

*****

"Good evening everybody!" Mokuba smiled friendly as he entered the room, followed by Yugi.

"Hah!" Shizuka blew a raspberry at Anzu, who had the grace to blush.

"Isn't Joey here?" Mokuba inquired, noticing the blond's absence. "I thought he'd be here too, especially since you're here." He nodded at Shizuka, who returned his smile.

"We sent him to trick-or-treat your big brother." she informed him.

Mokuba considered this for a while, then turned his puppy-eyes full force at Yugi. "Can I stay here for the rest of the night? I wouldn't want to interrupt anything."

Bakura snickered. Shizuka and Anzu looked a little puzzled, while Ryou blushed furiously and Yami's eyes seemed to glitter with amusement.

"If it's all right with Kaiba." Yugi agreed, not too fond of the idea of having an angry Seto Kaiba banging on his door in the middle of the night to get his little brother back.

"I'm sure he won't mind." Mokuba beamed. "I'll give him a call to let him know I'm all right though. Thanks, Yugi."

"You're welcome." Yugi smiled.

*****

Seto put down the phone with a soft sigh and told himself he didn't mind Mokuba spending the night at Yugi's place, rather than at home, with no one but his big brother for company. He ought to be pleased Mokuba had made such good friends, that his little brother was happy.

Instead, he felt more alone than ever, as if the last person he thought had cared about him had just turned away from him. It was stupid, it was unreasonable but he couldn't fight down the feeling. If only he hadn't snapped at Mokuba earlier ... then perhaps they'd have been together now, betting candy about the outcome of a game of Duel Monsters.

When a soft buzz informed him there was someone at the door, he sprinted to the hall, praying that it wasn't just some stupid kid who had dared to come here for a trick-or-treat. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep from yelling at the little pest in that case and it definitely wouldn't look good in the media if the kid's parents filed a complaint against him for verbal assault.

~tbc~


	3. Ending

Tricks and threats

Warnings/notes : Seto/Joey, small hints at Bakura/Ryou and Yami/Yugi, weirdness, slight fluff, bits of Mokuba, Halloween-fic.

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

written at 25th october 2003, by Misura

**********

_Well, seems there's no one at home. Too bad._

_I'd better go before someone sees me and draws the wrong conclusion._

After he had rung the doorbell, Joey had counted to ten before reaching the conclusion Seto had to be too busy working to open the door. Or maybe he wasn't even at home.

_Whatever, I tried and now I'm -_

The door opened, revealing a none too happy looking Seto Kaiba.

_- and now I'm so screwed._

"What do you want?" Seto informed coldly. Joey wondered if he just imagined the slightly friendlier expression on his face.

_Why would he be glad to see *me*?_

_Or rather, who was he expecting in my stead?_

"Uhm, I know this may sound a bit lame but - " Joey stared at his feet awkwardly.

_It's one thing to return his insults and taunts at school, but it's quite another to ask him for a favor._

_I'm not afraid of him. Well, not really. I'm just afraid he'll find out about my crush._

"Any word coming from your mouth sounds lame, mutt ; I don't expect anything more from you." Seto sneered. "Spit it out already ; I'm busy."

_Well, here goes nothing._

_Whose idea was this in the first place? I bet it was Shizuka's. Or Bakura's._

_Those two are just plain Evil._

"Trick ... or treat?"

*****

For a moment, Seto was sure he had misheard. Either that, or this was all some weird dream from which he would wake up within a few seconds.

_Central question being whether it would be a nightmare or not._

_I do seem to vaguely recall some pretty good dreams starting more or less like this._

_And with Mokuba safely at Yugi's ... this might not turn out as such a bad evening after all._

_Still, it wouldn't do to seem too desperate for some company._

_I don't want him to pity me after all ; I only want to know if he might like me a little._

"Aren't you a little bit old for that kind of stuff? And aren't you supposed to wear a costume?" Seto inquired, in part because he was genuinely curious why Joey was here, rather than at the gameshop with his friends.

"It's Bakura's fault!" Joey blurted out.

Seto raised one eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"It's ... " Joey hesitated, " ... a long story."

_Is that a hint of hope for an invitation to come inside I hear in his voice or is that nothing but some wishful thinking on my part?_

"Well, it's a long evening too." Seto replied, stepping aside in a silent offer of entrance. Joey eyed him a little puzzled for a while, before nodding and stepping inside, followed by Seto.

*****

Thirty minutes later, the two were seated comfortably on the couch in Kaiba's living room, with Seto chuckling over Joey's -carefully edited- tale of woe and sorrow. For once though, Joey didn't mind the other laughing at him.

_It *is* kind of funny, unless you're the person it happened to._

_And he looks less cold and untouchable when he's relaxed like this._

"Well, I told you *my* embarrassing story, now it's your turn." Joey grinned at Seto, taking another sip of his hot chocolate that was more 'luke-warm chocolate' by now.

For a moment, Seto's pleasant expression faded, but then he sighed. "I guess tonight's as good as any night. Very well then. Are you currently in love with anyone?"

"What does that have to do with your story?" Joey asked nervously.

"Just answer the question. You'll understand later." Seto replied.

_Well, I suppose it can't really hurt to tell him yes or no._

"Yes." Joey admitted reluctantly. "I am in love with someone."

_And that person's sitting only a few inches away from me, on the same couch right now._

_If only I dared to reach out, I could touch him._

Some kind of emotion flashed in Seto's eyes, gone too soon to recognize it.

"Male or female?"

_This is getting uncomfortable. What's he getting at?_

"Male."

_Well, at least he didn't flinch at that. So maybe he isn't completely opposed to the idea of liking another guy. Though liking *me* ... it's not as if he's ever shown any kind of friendship towards me. Then again, neither have I._

Seto nodded, looking unsurprised. "And does he answer your feelings?"

"No." Joey determinedly shook his head. "At least, I don't think so. He's kind of a hard person to ask stuff like that."

There was no joy in Seto's brief smile. "The same goes for me."

Joey considered this statement for a while. "You mean, you too like some guy who you don't dare to ask if he likes you back? That's ... "

_That pretty much sucks. I wonder who it can be ; someone in our class? Yami perhaps?_

_Must be someone intimidating, if Seto's scared of just confessing to him._

"Yeah." Seto agreed.

_Is it my imagination or did he just move a little closer to me? Not that I mind if he did ..._

"You know, we could, kind of, be lonely together." Joey remarked hesitantly.

_Whoever it is he's in love with, I can at least try to replace. If he'd only give me a chance ..._

Seto frowned. "Wouldn't that feel like you were cheating on the one you really loved?"

_If only he knew ... or does he know, suspect something at least?_

"Nope. Definitely not." Joey looked at Seto, a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Well, " Seto smirked, leaning a bit closer to Joey, " in that case, my dear puppy, trick or treat?"

"Hmmm, that's such a hard question, you know. Can't I have both?" Joey smiled sweetly.

Seto laughed aloud for the first time that night. "You can have anything you want."

"Really?" Joey drawled. "Anything?"

"Within certain limits of course." Seto amended.

"Could you be a little more specific?" Joey inquired with a grin.

"You're hopeless." Seto growled, chosing to end their conversation by locking Joey's lips with a kiss that tasted like chocolate and, somehow, strawberries.

~OWARI~


End file.
